Package display rack



May 4, 1954 A. DREYFUS, JR

PACKAGE DISPLAY RACK` Filed May 20. 1952 ATTORNEY Patented May 4, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to a package display rack and it consists in the constructions, arrangements and combinations herein described and claimed.

It is a particular object of the invention to provide a package holding means which may be readily assembled upon the posts of a display rack, avoiding the necessity of placing the holdn ing means upon the posts, prior to final assembly of the rack, as is inherent in my prior patent, 2,533,092 issued January 22, 1952.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a display rack embodying an upright support for package clamping means, wherein the support is provided with an area of reduced cross section and in which the clamping means is provided with an opening or slot for passage around said reduced area of the upright, the improvement comprising a pair of opposed lugs located within said slot for embracing the upright when the clamping means is moved beyond said reduced cross sectional area.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention will be apparent from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, nevertheless it must be borne in mind that the invention is not confined to the disclosure but is susceptible of such changes and modications as shall define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a front view in elevation of the package display rack.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary front View in elevation of the rack illustrating more particularly a clamping unit for a package.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary rear view in elevation of the clamping unit in position, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side View of my rack showing more particularly the construction of one of the clamping units.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I il designates generally one form of an upright which acts as the framework for supporting a plurality of clamping members II, The upright may be a post or an inverted U-shaped support as illustrated in Figure l. The outturned ends I2 of the legs I3 of said U-shaped member are Welded to a base i4 of suffcient eX- tent for retaining the upright in a vertical position. A bight portion I5 constitutes the upper end of the member It. The legs I3 adjacent the lower ends thereof are provided with opposed notches I 6 as shown, forming a reduced cross .Sectional area.

(Cl. Z11-71) Each clamping member is manufactured from a flat strip of spring metal, in which spaced openings Il' and I8 are punched in the strip. The opening lf3 has the same width as the slot I1, but has considerably greater length. Furthermore, the opening IS is not cut out completely for a spring finger I9 is retained. Said nger has its free end engageable with a leg I3. It will be noted that the finger is bent rearwardly so that its free end is spaced from the rear face of the upper end 20 of the flat strip of spring metal. The lower end is curved to provide a clamping element 2|. The free end 22 of said clamping element is pressed firmly against a leg for retaining a package or an article in position on the rack.

The clamping members I I are of identical formation and as best seen in Figures 2 and 3, the apex of the U-shaped portion 23 is divided longitudinally as at 24, of a width to provide respective opposed lugs 25, which function to retain the clip upon a support.

In my prior patent, when assembling the clamping members upon the legs of a U-shaped supporting frame, it was necessary to move the clamping members endwise upon the legs prior to mounting of the base member Iii.

Iny the present instance, the slots or reduced cross sectional area I 6 permits passage of the lugs 25, so that the lugs extend partly across respective opposite sides of the leg and may then be moved longitudinally along a leg I3 to its desired position thereon.

it will be apparent that the frame in the instant case may be completed as a unit and the clamping members later assembled upon the legs thereof, and in use, when it is desired to suspend packages from the clamping members II, pressure is exerted upon the end 2t in the direction of the support or leg I3, which will move the clamping element 2l away-from the support permitting a portion of the package to be interposed between the support and clamping element. V hen pressure is released on the end 2li, the free end 22 of the clamping element will engage the package in display position.

l claim:

In a package display rack having an upright of substantially uniform cross sectional area throughout the length thereof, said upright being provided with opposed slots forming a reduced cross sectional area, a clip member formed from a resilient flat strip of metal bent intermediate the ends thereof to form a V-shaped member, one end of the strip forming means for gripping a package onto the upright, said strip.

having an opening at the apex of the V-shaped member and extending at opposite sides thereof, a pair of opposed lugs formed on the longitudinai edges of the opening, said lugs being spaced nearer one end of the opening and spaced apart so as to pass through the slots forming the reduced cross sectional area of the upright but long enough to extend inwardly upon the upright throughout the remaining portion of the upright when said clip member is moved therealong, and a spring nger projecting from the end of the 4. opening spaced the greater distance from the lugs, the free end being in contacting engagement with the upright and acting as a fulcrum for the clip.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date l0 2,285,745 Ritter June 9, 1942 2,583,092 Dreyfus, Jr. Jan. 22, 1952 

